


With a Smile on his Face

by Team_Alpha_Wolf_Squadron



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, Superman - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-09
Updated: 2018-03-09
Packaged: 2019-03-28 14:57:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13906440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Team_Alpha_Wolf_Squadron/pseuds/Team_Alpha_Wolf_Squadron
Summary: Clark had honestly never noticed it until Damian brought it up. But now that he had it was all Clark could see





	With a Smile on his Face

**Author's Note:**

> So this is inspired by a personal headcannon I have about Gotham in general. Hope you enjoy.  
> also this was written from my tablet so ignore the spelling and grammar mistakes

Clark had honestly never noticed it before. Not until Damian brought it up.

It was just after a hasty JL meeting, Clark doing his duty informing the rest of the League about their recent success off planet. Damian, Clark knew, was actually not supposed to be there. While they did value their sidekicks as actual heroes, Damian had his own team to sit through boring meetings with. Or he would. Clark vaguely remembered Bruce telling him Damian had outright refused to join the Titans, something about not being able to make friends. 

Anyway, Damian wasn't meant to be there, but since it was Bruce who had been off planet with Clark the JL looked it over this once. Especially when Bruce sat Damian on his lap. The eleven year old was a frightening piece of work, but the way he was subconsciously trying to both lean in and away from his dad had everyone cooing in their heads. 

The meeting didn't last too long, for which Clark was grateful for. Their time off planet had been tiring and even Clark, who could survive weeke without sleep was longing for a shower and his pillow. 

Bruce looked to be having the same thoughts as, instead of hopping back to Gotham, he took Damian to his barely used rooms in the Watchtower.

While it would have been nice to have his own private shower, Clark knew it was better to have a communal bathroom on the Watchtower. Firstly because it meant that if someone was injured they didn't have to worry about passwords or key cards to get them cleaned up, and secondly because it stopped fights breaking out over who got the biggest en suite.

Unfortunately for Clark by the time he got to the showers all four of them were taken up. He may have let his eyes linger on Bruce a bit too long, but Clark reasoned it was because he was sure that bruise was recently made and couldn't quite pin point when it happened. Nevertheless he managed to drag his eyes away eventually and went back into the locker room to wait for an opening.

It was just his luck Damian was there too. His domino and suit were gone, replaced with pyjamas he knew Bruce had bought. He had to smother a smile at the Grey Ghost logo, knowing for a fact Damian would have just put them on no question because his dad had said it was a decent show.

Adorable.

The kid had also managed to scrounge up a sketch pad from somewhere, Clark not knowing whether Damian had brought it from home or if Bruce had one waiting foe him in his room. The second option was looking more likely after Clark remembered the other things Bruce still had in his room. A stuffed bear he'd won for Dick at Amusement mile. Jason's favourite book when he was sick or injured. Tim's comics that Clark knew half to be from Bruce's own collection when he was a kid. Cass's favourite movie. Bruce had packed his room with things his kids had liked in case something happened and they had to stay here.

It made something in Clark's chest ache with this side he'd only glimpsed at from Bruce over the years. Especially when Clark remembered there was nothing in his own room like that for comparison. Nothing for Kara, and nothing for Kon. Maybe he should amend that.

"Tt," reached Clark's ears, Damian staring at him with a scowl on his face. 

"What?"

"Do not tell me you are manic too," Damian said.

Clark honestly didn't know what to say to that. He couldn't even begin to dissect it, so settled on a "Huh?" And hoped for more clarification.

Damian set hid pad down, his pencil waving in the direction of Clark's face. "You were smiling."

Clark felt his cheeks heat. "Yeah, I was er, thinking of something," cute, sweet, "nice."

Damian's scowl lessened slightly, his pad back on his lap. "Okay then."

He went back to drawing, the gentle scratches soothing Clark into thought. Ordinarily, he would leave Damian alone. He was the one kid in Bruce's brood Clark did not want to cross, and he'd had to babysit Jason, nineteen rage fuelled Jason. But Damian had a special place in Bruce's heart. It wasn't that he was the blood son, that didn't come into it at all Clark thought. He thought it was because Damian, out of all Bruce's kids was the most different. Again, it had nothing to do with what he did or didn't know about pop culture or even that he'd took a life, Bruce's kids all had one or the two in common. It was the fact that Damian was the least like Bruce. He wasn't driven to the point of obsession, or cold when he shouldn't be. Damian was actually a sweet kid. But he'd been brought up to be like Bruce, to emanate him as best he could, and Clark could see Bruce, every time Damian chose to conform instead of be himself kick himself for it. 

It was because of that Clark left him alone. He didn't want to overstep. But something about what Damian had said was staying with him.

Enough that he cleared his throat, inviting Damian's attention back on him. "Is there a problem with smiling? I thought it was a good thing."

"Tt," that noise again. Like everything Clark was saying was wrong and he should repent for it. "You obviously haven't been paying attention."

"To what?" Since beating around the bush wasn't going to get him anywhere with this kid.

The pencil stopped, Damian seeming to hesitate a moment before he leaned in slightly. "Father."

"You think your dad smiling is a problem?" Well, he wasn't the first one to say so. Only, people tended to say it was scary rather than a problem.

"Have you seen him when he does? There is nothing right with that smile. And it is not just him," Damian leaned in further. "Grayson does it too. And Todd. Drake and Cain, even Pennyworth, they all do it."

Clark didn't really want to derail the kid, this was probably the longest conversation they'd ever had, yet, he couldn't really see a problem. "So they're happy? I don't see anything wrong with that."

Damian tutted again. "This has nothing to do with pleasure alien. When father and the others smile, there is no emotion behind it. The image is wrong and I fear it is spreading. Just last week Grayson took me to a park and the children there had the same grins on their faces."

"Really?" Okay, now Clark was worried. It was one thing for Damian to say they smiling, another to say they were grinning. Usually when that was mentioned a certain clown with no boundaries was on the loose. "Have you told your dad?"

Damian shook his head. "He would think it trivial."

"I don't think he will. Damian listen to me, if you think something is wrong you always tell your dad. Even if it's something stupid. You never know, it might be something bigger than you thought,"

Damian took a while before he nodded, the pencil beginning its scratching again. Clark hoped to God the Joker really wasn't out as he got up to try the showers again. Bruce was never right when he was. He was colder, harsher, and preferred to keep his kids at arms length so they wouldn't get hurt again. It was never a good time for any of them. 

Life after that seemed to go back to normal. Clark went back to work, he visited Kon and Ma, he even took Krypto for a walk. Yet, niggling at the back of his mind were the words Damian had spoken to him.

It got bad enough that at the next JL meeting, Damian in attendance again because he broke his arm and couldn't be trusted, Clark spent the whole time watching Bruce. He played it off afterwards as just admiring Bruce in dad mode, which sent Bruce into a full blown pout. But really, he was seeing if he could catch a glimmer of what Damian was talking about.

Which he did.

It was around half way through the meeting, Damian dozing quietly from inside Bruce's cape. Long enough had passed for the important issues to have been said, which meant the trivial personal problems were being aired. Clark knew people tuned out for this part unless it was them being ridiculed, he was no different, keeping his gazr covertly on Bruce. He could see Bruce beginning to shut down too, his eyes glazing over behind the cowl. Clark wasn't too shocked at that, he'd often felt relieved seeing that look since it meant he wasn't the only person bored stiff. What he hhadn't been expecting however, was what came next.

It didn't even start with a twitch like most of Bruce's real grins did. Instead, it smoothly slid out until both corners of Bruce's lips were pulled tight in a grin. Clark checked the rest of Bruce's face, finding it relaxed and bored. He obviously didn't know what was going on. 

Clark checked around to see if anyone else had noticed, finding them either zoned out or ready to fight as Hal started accusing Barry, again, of stealing his pop tarts. No one seemed to think Bruce was being abnormal. No one saw that plain as day Joker grin stretched on Bruce's face.

But then, neither had Clark before today.

Was it possible that he'd just ignored it? Thought it was normal? That it had been in the background for so long now that he just didn't see reason to draw attention to it?

He didn't know and it was freaking him out. He would keep an eye on it. Make sure Bruce was okay, because otherwise he was going to have to consider the possibility of a fight with Joker Batman again in the near future. God he hated Joker Batman, he was a sneaky thing that Clark only managed to defeat because some part of Bruce was holding him back.

So Clark found himself journeying to Gotham that next day. Not to see Bruce. He'd done that one too many times before unannounced and always got a door in his face and missed calls for a week afterwards. No, Clark wasn't stupid enough to do that. So he went to go visit Tim instead.

Now, Clark actually had another reason for dropping by. One that didn't make him look like a creepy guy knocking on a seventeen year old's apartment. That reason was showing Clark pictures on his cell as the two of them flew Krypto over to Tim's for what Kon called, 'a cheering up session.'

Tim looked like he needed it when he answered the door. Clark hoped Bruce was keeping tabs on Tim because the idea of this teen left to his own devices was frightening. He didn't look like he'd slept in days, a painted frown on his face that looked like it would never rub off. His skin was far too pale, Clark wondering when the last time he'd been out in the sun was. It took courage beyond words to ignore the smell too, stale blood mixing with a tinge of days old sweat that was reminiscent of any teenage boys room. It had him worried, and wondering what kind of bribe Clark could make Tim to get him to shower, if only so his wounds wouldn't get infected.

Clark perched gentle on Tim's sofa as Kon let Krypto off his leash. He braced himself to get up and wrangle Krypto to be more gentle, but surprisingly, instead of the dog jumping like a maniac as he usually did, he did a circle of Tim, slowly sniffing before nudging the boys hand for a stroke. 

A miracle seemed to happen. Tim smiled. It was small, barely there as he started rattling off beverages, but it was there. Clark didn't think he'd ever been so proud of Kon than he was in that moment. Or Krypto.

Clark, naturally, didn't want to stay long. This was Kon's play date, and he knew the two of them were just itching to talk about private stuff they didn't want the grown ups to hear. So he stayed long enough to make sure Krypto really was going to behave himself and a nice glass of orange Tim gave him.

Overall, when he left, Clark counted his visit a success. Not only did Kon, not Clark, Kon persuade Tim to get a shower, but Clark also managed to confirm that Damian was right when he said it wasn't just his father affected.

Around five minutes into petting Krypto until the dog was a lump of happy feet and wagging tail, Tim relaxed. He relaxed so much that his mouth stretched up smoothly into a smile. The same one Bruce wore. It was eerie, looking at it on Tim's face, yet it was there no matter how many times Clark blinked.

This was turning into an epidemic.

So much was his worry that Clark made the rounds of all the batfamily. Even Jason who was actually pretty nice to him when Clark assured him he wasn't there to lock him up. Every single one of them he visited at some point ended up with a smile. Dick when he was looking out the window of the ice cream parlour. Cass when she was looking for a photo for Clark to give to Kara. Steph at the ice cream parlour again. Jason when Clark took him flying. Barbara on the computer. Even Alfred, stoic, Alfred ended up with a smile on his face when he led Clark through the halls to where Bruce was.

Of course, that wasn't the end of it.

Througout all of this Clark had spent his time in Gotham. Either walking the streets or being served he was interacting with the natives, and they too had that smile. The women, the men, children, old people, rich and poor, they all had it.

All except Damian.

Clark ended up back at the manor before the month was up. Surprisingly, Alfred let him in again taking him to where Bruce and Damian were painting portraits of each other in the living room.

He stopped for a moment when Alfred left, all thoughts of why he was here leaving as he caught what was on the two easels. Damian's was magnificent. He could see now why Bruce kept a sketchbook at the Watchtower. It wasn't just for Damian's amusement, Clark bet anything when Bruce was feeling low after a mission he would look his way through Damian's work. The kid had a gift, and Bruce's, well Damian got his gift from somewhere.

A throat cleared, Clark looking up to see Damian tilting his own work away and Bruce quirking an eyebrow at him. "Can I help you?"

"Er," right, mission. "Yes. I was thinking, if you had any free time we could do something together. Maybe go to the cinema? Or a match? I hear there's a judo tournament on in Keystone."

Bruce scrutinised him for a moment before telling Damian to get some fresh water. As soon as the boy was out of sight Bruce asked, "A match? What's the occasion?"

"No occasion," Clark reassured. Really, he just wanted some alone time to suss out if he should inform Diana of this problem. She was always better at handling Joker Bruce than him. "I just thought we could spend some time together."

"Alone?" Bruce clarified.

"Preferably."

Bruce looked him over again. "What brought this on? You've never wanted alone time before."

Clark huffed, "That's because I knew you would say no."

"And this time?"

Clark shrugged, "I'm not getting any younger. Figured why not just ask and see."

Bruce seemed to colour slightly, his pale cheeks a light pink as he muttered, "I might not have said no to every time you asked."

"So you'll come?"

He nodded slightly, "Yeah, I guess. To a match, right?"

"I'll book the tickets."

He gave Bruce a quick grin, some part of him not analysing how he could get Bruce to do that smile again marvelling at how easy that was. Maybe he really should have been asking Bruce all these years to hang out.

Clark almost made it to the door before Damian entered his path. Clark considered leaving the boy, but his courage won out so he stopped Damian before he could disappear.

Naturally, the boy had nothing but a sneer for Clark. This time he guessed he deserved it since he was ruining bonding time, but unlike other times where Clark would have ran with a nevermind trailing behind him, this time he stuck it out.

"I thought about what you said," Clark hissed, "about the smiling. You were right. It's weird."

Damian's attention was piqued. The boy stepped in, his voice not needing to travel so far as he said, "So you agree with me?"

"Definitely. I checked out the others too. It turns out though, that it's not just the family. I saw people on  the street with it too."

Damian nodded, "I suspected as much. Colin has odd moments of glee too."

Colin must be a little friend of Damians. Ordinarily Clark would have found that cute. Right now, there were bigger things to focus on. "That's why I'm around here. I'm going to try and see what's triggering it. Get some concrete evidence. Your dad's more likely to take it seriously if we have data to back up our word."

"Yes," Damian agreed, a hint of surprise in his voice Clark was pretending not to hear as the kid went on, "Good thinking. If you are working on father I shall focus on Grayson. He is often more prone to them than the others. I am suspecting it is because of lack of brain function. But, my investigation will prove more results."

"Good," Clark said. He turned, ready to leave, knowing the boy wasn't fond of goodbyes when he remembered to say. "Be careful. If this thing proves to be dangerous, trust me, Dick or not, you're gonna want to duck and cover."

Damian nodded, the shadow in his eyes telling Clark he was more well versed than first thought in how dangerous his family could be.

The match Clark booked and came rather fast for his liking. It felt like only yesterday he was standing at Wayne manor. 

Alfred answered, punctual as always, and while he did cast an odd look to Clark's clothes he called for Bruce anyways.

The reason for the odd look became apparent when Bruce yelled one last warning to the boys upstairs as he came down. While Clark had opted for jeans and an old shirt, Bruce had went full fancy. His shirt had buttons. Buttons.

Clark put it down to Bruce's cover as he said, "You look nice," handing over a ticket as they worked out the mechanics of getting there. 

They made it with time to spare, Clark treating Bruce to a hot dog and an honest to God slushy when he saw Bruce eyeing the machine earlier.

"I can pay for myself," Bruce said, digging into his hot dog anyway.

"I know. But this was my idea. So just, shut up and pay the next time we do this."

Bruce slurped on his slushy for a while, Clark grinning because he knew the noise was intentional. Eventually, just before the first match was to begin Bruce asked, "There's going to be a next time?"

Clark noted the lack of argument. No Bruce telling him this was a one time deal. "Of course," he said, already planning to look up any other martial art tournaments in the future.

The fighting began, and just like Clark hoped he had an array of emotions to examine in regards to that smile. He got happy, angry, frustrated, elated, hungry when someone with nachos passed by them, and eventually, when Clark was flying the two of them back, relaxed. It was the relaxed one that did it. Somehow, when Bruce was too calm to notice it, that smile snuck its way onto his face.

It didn't stick, thankfully. As soon as Clark set Bruce down a more genuine grin took its place. One that was stainee blue from the two slushys Bruce had wrangled out of him.

"Next time I'll pick what we do," Bruce promised, looking to be about to say more as yelling broke through the stone walls. "I swear-" Bruce cursed, sending a half wave back as he ran to see who was wrecking the house this time.

Clark honestly spent all of that night worrying. If this grin was creeping up on them when they were relaxed then who was to say a psychosis couldn't develop. All it would take would be a trigger and Clark was looking at at Two Faced Batman. Not something he wanted.

He needed to examine further. Maybe get some samples, or evidence to analyse. 

Clark was looking up other ways to spend time with Bruce the next few days that when the call did come he was surprised. "A rodeo? Isn't that a bit beneath you?"

Bruce grumbled on the other end. "No. And I figure you can help me out when I get lost so..."

Clark stifled a grin, just imagining Bruce looking over countless websites to find one he knew he would be willing to attend. "And you think I've been to a rodeo because..."

"Really?"

"You're stereotyping me so much right now. And we didn't even have rodeos in Smallville Bruce." Even if Clark had spent the majority of his childhood with a cowboy hat on and Pa telling him to let that poor piglet go Clark.

"Yes, but your mother told me that your father took you to one when you were twelve. I figured the fascination would still be there. Clearly I was wrong."

Oh no, Bruce's grumpy voice was rearing its head. "I'd love to go. What day?"

Which was how Clark ended up showing Bruce, and Damian who had insisted on coming when he heard there were animals the ropes of a rodeo. 

"Father I want a horse," Damian demanded. 

"No," Bruce said like this was a daily occurance. Since Clark could remember years of Jason and Dick combined asking the same question he guessed it was at this stage.

"But father, all dignified men know how to ride and have their own steed. Even that fellow with the mask had his own horse."

Bruce squinted down at his son. "Fellow with the mask? You mean Zorro?"

"Yes."

"Who showed you Zorro?' Since even Clark knew that was one movie Bruce had to be in a special mood to watch. It was like a comet, every ten years he gave in and put it on.

"Grayson said it was sentimental to you and forced me to view it."

He saw Bruce stifle a smile. "What did you think of it?"

Damian frowned for a while, his eyes still on the horse he wanted. "It was dated and exaggerated in almost everything. The effects were poor and acting questionable. However, there was a charm to it that I did not expect."

Bruce practically beamed, which meant a small smile for him. He spent the rest of the day in good spirits. Enough that when Clark dropped them off and Damian asked again for a horse, Bruce said maybe, that manic grin on his face the whole while.

They had three more outings after that, without Damian this time. Each and every one of them had Bruce smiling like the Joker at some point. A football game was the latest, Bruce actually proving he owned a Knights shirt as the two of them yelled support for their teams. Bruce had already slipped into a smile twice now, and just as Clark dropped him off at the manor a third appeared. 

He had enough data now, both him and Damian. Clark should have been telling Bruce there was a problem with his face. Only, said face was currently kissing his own and it was rather hard to think around that fact.

Bruce pulled away, his expression far from manic now as it nonverbally invited Clark in. He was sad to say he gave in. But, on the bright side Clark now knew that smile did not appear at any time during sex. Both a praise for Clark's skills and proof that it was only when Bruce was relaxed that it reared its head.

Like now.

Bruce was gazing at the ceiling, his limbs outstretched as they worked through getting back in the right position. Clark couldn't help but touch those lips. Feeling the tightness that was involuntarily stretching relaxed skin.

Bruce turned to him, a frown shaping under Clark's finger. "What?"

Clark sighed, wondering if he could get Bruce to leave it alone enough for them to sort out in the morning. Along with other things like the fact Clark had basically been dating Bruce these past few months without meaning to. Not that he wasn't happy with this prediciment. He was. Extremely.

Bruce didn't look like he was going to let Clark get away with saying nothing.

He sighed, tapping Bruce's lips and hoping to God now he wasn't going to be triggering Joker Bruce. "Your mouth does this thing when you relax. Damian noticed it first, and I honestly didn't believe him but Bruce, it's there."

Bruce's eyes narrowed for a moment before rolling. "You mean the Joker smile?"

"You knew?"

Bruce levelled him with a look. Right, his face. Also, detective. "Don't worry about it."

Clark lifted himself up, getting a better look at Bruce. "What do you mean? What is it?"

Bruce shrugged, "It's just muscle memory. See, when you've been gassed as many times as I have it's bound to leave some kind of scar."

"So it's harmless?" Clark clarified.

Bruce nodded. "It's just what happens after a few too many laughing gas attacks. You think Harley's just eternally happy?"

Now that he thought about it, this did make sense. He supposed in the long run it was better for a smile than a psychosis. He remembered Bruce telling him a few too many stories about those kinds of people. The ones who the gas lays dormant with for years. The smile would also explain why it wasn't just Bruce and his family with symptoms.

"So why doesn't Damian smile like that?"

"He's only met the Joker once. It'll be a while before he gets it." 

Poor kid.

Clark slept more peacefully after that. He felt like a big weight had been lifted. Enough for him to realise he'd just freaking courted Batman without knowing it. Just, how?

It had him in such a stupour, wondering how he could have missed the obvious signs and questions Bruce gave him that he barely registered the knife hitting him square in the chest.

"Damian," Bruce warned, not even looking up from his morning paper.

Clark faced the eleven year old, another knife in his hand as he demanded, "So this was your plan all along alien? Pretend to show interest in my dilemma so you could bed my father?"

"Damian," Bruce warned again, this tone even flimsier than the last. It was like Bruce had just gave up around Tim. 

"I will not forget this transgression," Damian hissed, stalking out with his eyes on Clark the whole time.

Clark couldn't help thinking, watching the kid disappear, that when Damian did eventually grow that smile, he was going to be even more sinister than he was now.

He wondered if Bruce would be offended if they kept their sleepovers solely reserved for Clark's apartment.. 


End file.
